With the increased functionality of mobile communication devices, particularly in the area of battery powered portable two-way radios, users are more likely to consume significant power from the battery. Many users working in the public safety arena, such as firefighters and police, rely on an uninterrupted power supply from the battery across a variety of environments, including drop, vibration, and water exposure. Interruption in power supply can occur due to weak physical and/or electrical connection between the battery and the battery powered device. One of the critical parameters for Public Safety is for the radio to be capable of meeting rugged submersion requirements. This implies the battery must remain functional under extreme drop conditions while maintaining a water tight seal. Failure to remain sealed can place the user at grave risk due to either a temporary or permanent loss of communication. When the battery is reconnected to the device, power is restored, but the device may need time to reboot and become fully operational again. Thus, electrical interfaces between the battery and the device face some of the toughest challenges to maintain a solid physical and electrical connection across the above said environments.
One design option for such electronic devices is a protruding battery contact design which can mitigate problematic radio resets and address radio/battery contact interface sealing issues. However, this protruding battery contact design posed tooling and sealing issues. The problems faced included providing an electrical connection from outside the battery pack to inside the pack; maintaining a water tight seal in the battery compartment; providing a means to seal the battery/radio interface; maintaining a water tight seal after drop impacts to the protruding contact and designing a manufacturable product to achieve the required properties. As such, it would be beneficial to have reliable physical and electrical connection between the battery and the communication device for tough environments.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.